


I guess dreams come true

by majorera19



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Laura Hollis, F/F, Hunters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panther Carmilla, War, first fic, huntress Laura, kind of dark Laura Hollis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-12 00:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18435155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majorera19/pseuds/majorera19
Summary: The war between hunters and shape-shifters ended 2 years ago but the truce is now threatened when girls start to go missing in both sides. Laura needs to find who is behind this before it is too late.However, the arrival to hunter´s territory of a bad injured shape-shifter will complicate things. Is all this a trap? Can she trust her?





	1. Uno

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic but this has been in my laptop for soo long that I thought I should give it a try and share with whoerever wants to read it. Also, English is not my first language but I love writing and the only way of getting better at writting in a different language is doing it so...Enjoy!!

Laura was in the middle of the forest. It was a very cold night. The moon illuminated the forest, making easy for Laura to see in the dark. She knew this part of the forest very well because she used to patrol this area all the time years ago, however, right now she felt uneasy, like someone was watching her. Laura looked around, but couldn´t see anyone. She kept walking, trying to get away from there as soon as possible. But then, she heard a sound coming from a bush just a few meters before her. Laura stopped and narrowed her eyes trying to see what was hiding in the dark. Her heart was beating very fast and her hands were sweating, whatever was there she knew that it has been waiting for her. A few seconds later, a huge panther came out, coming closer to Laura and moving very slowly. It stopped and looked Laura straight into her eyes. It has dark and beautiful eyes and its black fur was shining with the light of the moon. Its eyes showed so much emotion that Laura felt like she was staring into human´s eyes. It was scary to be before such a dangerous predator, but it was captivated and Laura couldn´t bring herself to move. It just stayed there, staring at her like it was trying to tell her something. The panther didn’t seem to be scare of the human presence; on the contrary, it seems way too comfortable around her. Laura was unarmed and in the middle of nowhere, if she didn´t get out of this situation soon she was going to be in so much trouble so she took a step back and the panther took a step towards her. Laura could swear that the panther seemed…amused with this little game, but obviously that was just impossible, right? Laura was just seeing things because she was scared. Then she decided that the situation required a drastic and very stupid decision, she turned around and ran as fast as she could. She could hear the panther following her, she knew she wouldn´t be able to outrun it but hell she was going to try. Her lungs were burning and her heart was going so fast that it hurts, but she couldn´t give up. She felt it getting closer and closer. The last thing she heard was a loud roar coming from behind her.

Laura woke up in the safety of her room, covered in sweat and breathing rapidly. She has been having the same dream for the last few weeks. She grabbed her phone and looked at the time, five in the morning. She let out a sigh, knowing that she couldn´t go back to sleep anymore so she got up and went to the toilet to get ready.   
“You look like crap. Are you all right?” Laf asked concerned while they were getting breakfast before starting the shift.

“Wow, thank you. Just what I needed to hear this morning”, Laura felt so tired “Just a bad dream”.  
“Are you still dreaming about that panther?”

Laura didn´t want to discuss the same dream again. She felt tired and frustrated and wanted to get to work. They finished breakfast in silence and went to speak to Perry to know where they were assigned for the day.

“Good morning, Perry” Both women greeted her.

Perry was sitting in her office surrounded by paperwork as usual. Perry was in charge of the daily basics tasks around the base. Obviously, the tasks were assigned to the hunters considering experience and skills. Lately, Laura has been more focused on management jobs than hunter jobs and she kind of hated it but her father wanted her to get more involved in the political part of the hunters. She wasn´t sure if she wanted to replace her father as captain when he retired. That kind of job just wasn’t for her. She liked the adrenaline, the danger, the fight… She was a hunter, she was made to hunt, to protect. She was one of the most skilled hunters of her generation and her colleagues knew it. It has been so long since the last time she has had a challenged that she could feel getting frustrated for the lack of a good fight. 

The truce with the shape-shifters has lasted two years so far, however, it was a very delicate truce and Laura knew that it wouldn´t last forever. Both sides have decided to stop the war after years of losing families and friends by each other’s hands. The war lost its meaning after way too many deaths brought by hatred and fear. It was a destructive war, it was a cold war. Both sides focused on killing the enemy slowly, reducing the food income by burning down the industries, poisoning animals or blocking the ways to the villages to avoid the exchange of food with others villages. With the years, shape-shifters became more imaginative, released virus in the water or air near the village, destroyed the communication and ended a way to search for help for their sick people, located bombs in main buildings killing high officers. Of course the hunters attacked with similar tactics. After this, the hunters were isolated and human villages refused to help them because they didn´t want to get in the middle of this war. Laura was still furious at the human refusal of help, because the hunters were created hundreds of years ago to protect humans from shape-shifters and they did so until the war took too many lives and that task became something impossible to do anymore. The panic and the desperation started to be the main feeling in the village among its people. Hunters were starving and sick, the revenge the only thing kept them going. The situation reached an unsustainable point two years and half ago when food and water resources weren´t enough to keep the hunters alive much longer. Keeping the borders secured was an impossible task, because they lost hunters protecting it every day. It was a slow and painful massacre. Fortunately, the shape-shifters were in a similar situation and agreed to meet to reach a truce. Both sides decided that Styria was big enough for hunters and shape-shifters to share. Territories and rules were set and they seemed to be working so far. 

Perry smiled at them and then frowned when she noticed dark circles around Laura´s eyes. 

“Laura, honey, are you still not sleeping well?” Her voice full of concerned.

Laura loved Laf and Perry like family, but she couldn´t talk about her lack of sleep with them anymore. She needed to get into action. They have grown up together in the Hunter´s village and when the war came they fought together and they protected the village and its people the best way they knew. With the years their friendship grew stronger and Laura knew that she could trust them with her life.

“I am fine, Perry” Laura smiled at her trying to calm her anxious friend.

“We´ll talk about this later” assured Perry, “but your father wants to talk to you and it seems urgent”.

Laura frowned but just nodded and walked to her father´s office without questioning anything else. Her father´s office was in the same building than Perry´s. In fact, the hunter´s department was stablished by a two floors building with various offices, training rooms and a cafeteria. It has a few rooms for those hunters that needed them, but the building was in the center of the village so most of the hunters preferred to go to their homes when the shifts were done. The village were the hunters lived was called Silas. Most of the people in the village were hunters, but there were all kind of people living here like merchants, healers, teachers, builders…  
Laura reached her father´s office and knocked at his door, while waiting for permission to go in she couldn´t shake off this bad feeling regarding this meeting. Her father called her in his office in very rare occasions. 

“Enter” his father was busy with paperwork but smiled when he saw her. He stood up and hugged her ”It is nice to see you. We barely see each other anymore”.  
“We are busy people” Laura shrugged while she took a sit.

“That is not an excuse. We live in the same town after all. I have called you but you never answer my phone calls”

Laura has been avoiding people lately; she has focused on training and patrolling. She couldn´t explaining, but she has been feeling restless, like her instincts were trying to tell her that something bad was going to happen soon. 

“I am sorry, dad, how I said I has just been busy. Why have you called me to your office?”

His father stared at her closely but didn´t comment any further and changed the subject.  
“Two days ago a girl went missing in the neighbor village. I need you to go and investigate”

“A lost girl? This is not our job. The humans have their own police” Laura couldn´t understand why his father would consider this important. It was sad, but humans wouldn´t allow an intrusion of the hunters in this case anyway. 

“I know, but this case is different. This girl went missing two days ago after a huge wolf was spotted very close to the village. A witness swears that he heard a growl and a girl screaming in the forest the night this girl disappeared”

“They can´t really believe that one of the shape-shifter did this. It was probably a wild wolf” she shook her head. 

“ I don´t believe it either, but I need you to go and ask a few questions and try to calm people down a little bit, before things get out of hands” his father sigh “and you should pay a visit to the amazons. They might know something”

Laura stared at him angry, shook her head and stood up. 

“Humans won´t want me there, the amazons won´t want me there. I really don´t know what you want me to do. This poor girl probably went too deep into the forest and found a wild wolf”

“I need your abilities Laura. If someone can find this girl is you. And you will be able to see if she was attacked by a wild wolf or a shape-shifter. The truce is too new, we can´t risk it, I need you there” His father seemed exhausted, he smiled at her sadly “I don´t want you to go, Laura, it is too dangerous, but you are the best hunter I know”

His father was always very protective of her, after losing Laura´s mother in the war he almost died of sadness and his protectiveness over Laura just got worse. After many fights, his father understood that he couldn´t protect her anymore. She was a soldier, she was a huntress and she had a mission. Laura didn´t want to go. It would be a waste of her time. Nobody would cooperate with the investigation anyway and her relationship with the amazons was complicated at best. But she had orders, so she just nodded resigned. His father sigh relieved.

“Take a team with you”

Laura was about to protest again but a hard look of his father changed her mind. She rushed out of the office not wanting to argue anymore and went to find her team. 

________________________________________

“So…and why Kirsch came again?”Laf asked for the third time. 

Laf, Kirsch and Laura have been in the car for 5 minutes and she was already regretting this trip.

“Perry didn´t want to come. She was too busy at the office and we needed somebody else”

“And your second option was Kirsch…” Laf sounded skeptical. 

“Hey!! I can hear you” Kirsch yelled hurt form the back of the car. 

“I know that you have been spending the last few months in the lab and haven´t been around much, but Kirsch is one of the best hunters we have right now” Laura explained again. 

Kirsch smiled proud of himself and made a face to Laf.   
“Very mature” Laf murmured. 

They have been talking about the mission and Laf and Kirsch agreed with her. They thought the girl was probably surprised by a wild wolf but they needed to prove it.   
“You don´t really need us. The captain knows that you can manage yourself” Kirsch mentioned casually.   
Laura thought the same but probably a team was for the best. Kirsch was good with people, he made them look less threatening with his goofy smiled and puppy eyes and Laf could give her another point of view of the case. Besides, both were good fighters. However, Kirsch was referring to Laura´s abilities. The hunters were stronger and faster than normal people and they were capable of healing faster, but Laura was just…different. She was almost at the same level than a shape-shifter but she was reckless and her father knew it so he made sure that she wouldn´t come alone to this mission. 

“Well, three minds think better than one, right?”  
“I think you are overestimating the big puppy here” Laf pointed at Kirsch.

And they were arguing again. Laura just rolled her eyes, took a deep breath and focus on the road. 

When they arrived at the village, they decided not to loss time and went to speak with the police. The atmosphere in the village was tense and anywhere they looked they received distrustful stares. The way they looked, the way they moved, the way they dressed, everything shouted “hunters” and people didn´t find comfort in their presence anymore.   
The police wasn´t of much help. They told her the same story that Laura already knew. Apparently they searched for the girl for a few hours in the forest but couldn´t find any trace of her or any struggle so they concluded that the girl just left the village for good, leaving all her personal belonging behind. Laura couldn´t believe their incompetence but she recognized that the girl leaving the village was just the logical explanation. Laura asked for the witness, but they didn´t want to give her a name, however, they gave her the girl´s name, Betty. When they left the village and went into the forest, far away from anyone who could hear them, Laura asked “What do you guys think?” 

“I don´t know, something is not right. This girl disappeared one night and the police didn´t bother much with the case. She left town without taking anything with her” Laf shook her head.

“Do you think they are covering something to avoid confrontation with the shape-shifters?”

Laf just shrugged but she knew her friend was probably thinking the same.   
“Laura, Laf, here!!” 

They have been walking through the forest close to the village for a while now when Kirsch called them. Laura and Laf approached him. He was pointed at a tree with traces of dry blood on it and on the floor they found a few drops of blood and fingerprints. Laura sighed, angry, because two days ago there was a lost girl, a girl in danger in this forest and the police abandoned her and now they were probably too late. Laura was always too late. She could feel her heart beat rise and a cold sweat run down her back while her memories were coming back to her. She tried to calm down as she focused on the task at hand. For the first time, Laura realized that she was here to look for a missing person, for a person who probably has family and friends worrying for her and there was a chance that she would be dead. There was a chance that she would never come back. Laura wasn´t sure if she could handle this. Memories of the war, of all the people she has lost, her mother…she wasn´t sure if she was ready to loss somebody else again. 

“Shit” she murmured frustrated. 

“This is old blood…”Kirsch didn´t finish the sentence.

“Maybe she is injured”Laf said.

“In the woods for two days, injured and surrounded by wild animals… I bet the police was too scared to even look for her” Laura was livid.

“What was she doing in the woods in the middle of the night?” Laf wondered. 

That was a very good question. Things were getting weird. A girl lost in the forest and the authorities lying about the case. Laura knew most humans didn´t go into the forests for safety, trying to avoid shape-shifters, even after the truce they just avoided the woods, especially at night.  
They searched for hours but couldn´t find a trail that would take them to the girl or her body. Laura was so angry and sad. She couldn´t stop thinking how this girl must have felt alone and injured in the forest. The only thought in her mind is that she was too late. It was getting dark and they still had to get back to the base. 

“We should head back” Laf suggested, almost whispering. 

“Yeah… I guess we should” Laura looked at Laf and Kirsch. ”We have to find her”, desperation in her voice.

“We will Laura. I will pick a few men tomorrow and we will come back” Kirsch assured her.

“What if she is still out there, waiting for someone to rescue her?” 

Both friends avoided her gaze. She didn´t push them for an answer because she didn´t really want to hear the truth, not yet. 

________________________________________  
When they got to the base, Kirsch assured her again that he would come back to the forest in the morning with a few men. Once Laf and Laura were alone her friend asked her:  
“Are you ok?”  
“No, I am not” Laura felt powerless. “I am tired of seeing people die”

They walked slowly towards their houses in the cold of the night, streets almost empty, accompanying one another. 

“When the war ended I thought that we could finally build our lives back together. Just go back to our lives. But I was naïve. A part of me died in that war and it is never gonna come back. I can´t barely sleep anymore, I am always tensed, sometimes I can´t even be around people. The things that we had to do to survive, they haunt me…” Laura could feel a few tears running down her cheeks. 

“I get it, Laura, I really do” Laf embraced her with one arm, trying to comfort her. 

They didn´t talk about what they were going to do if the girl was found dead and her body showed signs of have been attacked by a shape-shifter. 

LaFontaine walked Laura to her apartment and then once they made sure that she was going to be ok they left. Laura walked to the small kitchen to grab a glass of water. She just sat there, with the lights off. Her apartment was very…impersonal. A bed, a sofa, a kitchen table, a few chairs and a wardrobe was all Laura had. When the war ended she moved to this apartment. She couldn´t live in her father´s house anymore, she needed her own space. Way too many memories and too many feelings. Laura felt like she couldn´t breathe around her father, who walked around like a zombie. She didn´t know how to help him because she was unable to even help herself. She hardly tolerated to be around people at that moment, she hardly tolerates herself now really. Laura finally decided to go to bed, after all they were going to have a long day tomorrow. 

 

Laura woke up in the middle of the night, breathing heavily. She grabbed her mobile phone and checked the time: 2 am. 

“Great, just great!”, murmured alone in the room. 

She hardly slept 2 hours but she knew she wasn´t going to go back to sleep anymore. She got up, got dressed and went to the hunter´s base. If she couldn´t rest at least she could patrol and get some fresh air. Once in the building she took a bow and a small knife from the weapons room and left in the first car she could find. She saw a few hunters watching her, but nobody questioned her anymore. Laura kept away from firearms; she preferred the hand to hand fight, it just seemed like a fair fight, not like it mattered to her opponents. They would use any advantage to kill her. She drove to the frontier of the hunter´s territory. They rarely assigned guards around there anymore. After the war they put all their effort into rebuilding and protecting the village but Laura liked to come here. It was quiet and peacefully, away from anyone. She parked the car among the trees and got out of the car. It was a cold night with a full moon in the clear sky. She took a deep breath, stretching her body and feeling at easy for the first time in days. She headed north, taking advantage of the bright moon to see in the dark forest. She could hear rodents moving through the undergrowth, the leaves of the trees swaying in the breeze, a river running in the distance…Here is where she felt she belonged. Here her pain eased at little bit. She patrolled for around an hour not expecting to find anything really. Then, she arrived to a familiar place. She turned around and felt like she was having some kind of déjà vu. The trees, the bushes, the moon… They all reminded her of her dream. The same place the same scenery. It is not like she has never been here before but her dream was very present and vivid in her mind. She decided to turn around and leave, but then she heard something moving very fast behind the trees. 

“You have to be kidding me” she murmured and brought a hand to her knife while she faced the noise “Please, let it be a bunny. I like bunnies”

Laura took a defensive position. She felt observed, just like in her dream. She started to sweat while she scrutinized the area, nervous. She was strong, but if a group of shape-shifters attacked she was screwed. She played brave, maybe it was a bunny after all. 

“Show yourself!! I don´t have all night!” Laura yelled at the trees. 

Suddenly, the movement stopped and a threatening growl sounded in the quiet night. ”Why is it never a fluffy bunny?”. Laura tensed and prepared to fight, her adrenaline rushing through her veins. She felt excited at the prospect of a fight. A few seconds passed by and then a huge panther emerged among the trees. It was the same panther that Laura had seen so many times in her dream, but it seemed hurt. Laura´s heart beat faster in her chest. If she remembered correctly, her dream ended pretty badly for her. Without a second thought, she took her bow and aimed at it. The panther followed all her movements and it moved slowly, getting closer, but it was limping. Laura couldn´t be sure if it was a wild panther or a shape-shifter.

“Stay where you are!” Laura tensed the bow. 

The panther then looked straight into her eyes, like challenging her to shoot, but it stopped. The panther was bleeding out through a huge cut on its side and it was breathing with difficulty. It was badly injured. Suddenly, the panther curled up and started to convulse on the ground. Its form was shifting. The fur giving room to skin, the paws to hands and legs, pointed teeth to a human´s mouth… Laura couldn´t move, she just stared astonished at the shape-shifter without knowing what to do. After a few minutes, the process completed and a very naked girl was lying on the ground before her, her long dark hair covered her face and her chest was moving rapidly with her breathing. Laura got closer to her slowly, still pointing an arrow at the girl. She couldn´t trust the shape- shifter, it could be a trick. But as she was getting closer she saw that the body´s girl was covered in claw wounds and bruises. Her skin was very pale so probably the girl had lost a lot of blood. Laura scrutinized her surroundings, looking for more shape-shifters, but couldn´t hear or see anything. She kneeled next to the girl who seemed unconscious. She gently brushed her hair away from her face. The girl was around her age and… she was beautiful. Laura shook her head and felt bad as soon as she thought that. The girl was injured and defenseless. Laura was unsure of what to do next. She couldn´t take her with her to the base. She could be a spy or she could be a rogue. That would explain her wounds. If her clan punished her for some reason Laura didn´t want to get involved. But the girl was in hunter´s territory… A strong hand grabbed her arm, interrupting her thoughts. The girl was awake and her dark eyes were looking at her, terrified.   
“Please, help me” The girl begged before she passed out again.


	2. Dos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and friends help the mysterious girl and find out a little bit about her.  
> Laura receives some bad news and made some questionable decisiones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been awake all night trying to finish the chapter so sorry for any mistakes. Enjoy!

Laura managed to carry the girl all the way back to her car. The first few steps the girl stood up and walked with Laura´s help, but then she passed out again. Too much for shape-shifter strength apparently. To be completely fair, the girl was badly injured and her wounds weren´t healing which was weird for her kind. 

Laura was breathing heavily at this point, but once she reached the car she shoved the shape-shifter in the passenger seat, she then covered the girl with a blanket as she was still naked and frozen. According to Laura´s knowledge of this race they tended to run warm, so this was an indication that the girl was indeed screwed if she didn´t hurry up. 

Laura started the car and speed all the way to the village. At some point the huntress realized that she just couldn´t bring her to Sylas and expected help. Their relationship with the shape shifters wasn´t the best and no one would trust this panther. Probably the hunters would throw her in one of the dungeons and would let her die. 

Laura looked at the girl. She looked very pale. “Why are you even helping her Laura? She could be a rogue and very dangerous one for all you know. Not the first time that she has asked this question to herself. But she couldn´t let her there. She was dying and she asked for her help… Laura has already let many people die in the past. She would help her with her wounds and then the girl will have to leave. 

“I need your help. Meet me at my apartment. Bring your medical supplies” Laura hung up the phone and looked one last time at the mysterious girl.

“Don´t die, ok? We are almost there”.

________________________________________

 

Laura was very grateful that it was the middle of the night and the village was deserted. She parked next to her apartment, looked around to make sure that no one was watching her and carried the girl inside her house bridal style. The shape-shifter groaned in pain but didn´t wake up. Once they were inside, Laura placed the girl softly on her bed. She was still bleeding so she grabbed an old shirt from her wardrobe and applied pressure on the wound.

“Why are you not healing?” Laura mumbled in frustration. 

“Laura!! Where are you?” Laf burst into her apartment followed closely by a very scared Perry. 

When they saw that Laura was ok they calmed down a bit but they were now confused by the bleeding girl.

“What the hell happened??” Laf got close to the bed and their face changed with the realization of what they were seeing “What is she doing here?”

“I…I didn´t know what else to do”

“You could´ve let her there so her clan could find her” 

“Laf!! The girl is dying” Perry interfered.

“Laura, I don´t have to explain to you how bad this situation is” Laf ignored Perry.

“I am very aware on how I fucked up big time but she was dying and there was no one else out there, so can you lecture me later and help her?” 

Laf considered it for like it seemed way too long but finally sat next to the girl and assessed her wounds. After a few minutes they sighed and said:  
“She has been poisoned and that is why she is not healing”

“Did her clan poison her? I have never heard of shape shifter´s clan doing that. They are more inclined to use claws and teeth as a punishment” Perry inquired while she walked around the room nervously.

“I don´t think they wanted to kill her…They wanted her to suffer. Her wounds are not that deep and the one on her stomach is the only one that could cause her any trouble but just because she is not healing” Laf looked worried now. They looked at Laura “Shit, Lau, I think she is probably a traitor or something worse…Her clan will claim her and we will be in so much trouble”

Laura shifted uncomfortably. Laf just confirmed what she´s been thinking since she decided to help the girl. One of the things that all the clans agreed when the war ended was that each clan would decide the way they would punish their people. No one outside of the clan was allowed to interfere and if they found any outlaws they were obligated to hand the prisoner over to their clan so they could be punished by the law of their clan. 

“Well…she is here now. We can heal her and get some answers”   
“Laura…” Perry tried one more time.

“I know Perry, ok? But…” Laura was shaking now “I just…I couldn´t let her there to die. I know that she supposed to be the enemy but…”

Perry hugged her “I know Laura, I know”.

Laf stood up “I need to get something from my lab. I will be back. I need you to keep her warm and carry on applying pressure on that wound” 

Laura just nodded and continued on her task while Perry went to grab some blankets and covered the girl with them. 

After a few minutes, Laf were back with a vial in their hand. They sat next to the girl again and rummaged among their medical supplies for a few seconds. Laf filled a syringe with the liquid in the vial. 

“What is that?” Laura finally dared to ask.

“The antidote or I hope so” Laf was about to inject the girl with it when Laura stopped them.

“You are not sure?” Laura trusted Laf but this seemed like a long shot. 

“We developed a serum during the war. It was designed to slow down the capabilities of the shape-shifters, enough to make it easier to kill or torture them. Whatever has been injected to her seems to be doing the same” Laf sighed “This is her only chance Laura. I can´t operate on her while she is still losing this much blood. Her body has to do the job”.

Laura let their hand go and Laf injected the shape-shifter with the serum. The girl barely stirred first but then started to convulse. Laura panicked but Laf just moved the girl so she was laying on her side. After a few seconds the convulsions stopped and the girl seemed to breathe more easily. Laf then proceeded to clean and dress the wound.

“Did it work?” 

Laf shrugged, unsure. “The wound doesn´t bleed that much now. We will have to wait and see”

“Come on, honey, let her rest. I will make some coffee” Perry called Laura.

The shape-shifter seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She still looked pale but she felt warmer now. Laura nodded and followed her friends to the kitchen. 

 

________________________________________

 

The friends were all sitting at the tablet drinking the coffee in silent. Laura was still processing the events of that night. She has helped a shape-shifter, an intruder and most likely a traitor. Her clan was probably looking for her and the trace would bring them to hunter´s territory. At first, they won´t consider that a hunter would´ve helped her and that will win Laura some time but eventually they will contact her father and if they found out that the hunters were hiding a fugitive the war will start again. 

“Shit, what am I gonna do?”  
“We´ll find out which clan she belongs to and we´ll hand her over to them” Laf stated simply.

“Has you considered that she might be innocent?” 

“That is not our problem”

“I can´t believe you!! So you just don´t give a…” 

“Laura, we know what you mean” Perry interceded with a soft voice “but we can´t help her and you know that. If we don´t give her to her people we will start another war”

Laura clenched her teeth not wanting to discuss this any further. 

“Thanks for your help but I got it from here” Laura stood up and went to open the door of her apartment. 

Her friends looked at her in surprised but both walked out of her house. 

“Laura” Laf weren´t even looking at her “I think she will be too weak to change for a couple of days, but make sure to chain her to be safe. We don´t know her after all”

________________________________________

As much as Laura hated it she followed Laf advice and tied the shape-shifter to the bed, unconvinced that it would hold her in place for long but hoping the girl was too weak to break free. 

Laura made sure that the girl was still asleep and then decided to sleep on her sofa. It was already very late and she knew she had to be up in a few hours. This time she didn´t dream.

Her phone ringing woke her up a few hours later. Laura groaned and grabbed her phone. 

“What?”

“Whoa there little grumpy! I am sorry to wake you up, but this is important” Kirsch sounded tensed.

Laura sat on the sofa completely awake now. 

“We found the body of the missing girl” 

Laura ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Laura waited for Kirsch to continue.

“Her body is marked with claw wounds. It toyed with her, chased her for a while and then it tore her neck”

Suddenly Laura felt sick and couldn´t breathe. A wild animal wouldn´t do something this cruel. 

“Boss, are you there?” 

Laura tried to calm down but she was trembling all over. 

“Are the humans aware of what happened?” Laura managed to ask. 

“Not yet. We were about to report to the authorities but I wanted to inform you first”

Laura needed to think of something fast. If the humans found out that one of them was murdered by a shape-shifter things were gonna get ugly. The humans will want revenge or they will get scared and do something stupid. Anyways, the hunters will have to get involved which won´t end well for anyone. Laura was already dreading what she was about to ask:

“Kirsch, I need you to lie to the authorities. Tell them that we couldn´t find the body or any trace of her. Tell them that we are dropping the case at the moment. Bring the body to Sylas and I want Laf to do the autopsy” Laura swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady “We need more time to find out what happened. No one involved will talk about this. We will keep this on the low. There is too much at risk. Do you understand?”

There was a long silence on the other side of the line. 

“I will report back to you when we get to the base” his voice sounded now lifeless.

“Report to Captain Sherman. I will be out” 

Laura hang up the phone and stood up. She needed a shower and then she was going to speak with the Amazons. They were a powerful clan. Hopefully they would know something.

After the shower Laura wasn´t feeling any better but she knew that the decision she has made was the correct one. She was protecting her people. A loud noise coming from her bedroom interrupted her thoughts. Laura hurried to her room and as soon as she entered she was pushed hard and slammed against the wall. The shape-shifter was awake and very angry. The girl tried to punch her but Laura dodged the punch and managed to get behind the shape-shifter, put her arms around her neck from her back blocking the blood circulation to the brain. The girl struggled but Laura just tightened her grip and after a few seconds the shape-shifter passed out. The huntress let her go and hurried to get the rope to tie her again. Laura was still securing the rope around her wrists when the girl tried to get free again. The huntress held her down with her weight. 

“Please, stop it. I don´t want to hurt you” Laura begged. 

“It doesn´t seem that way from here…” The huntress turned her around and helped her up, realizing the shape-shifter was still naked. 

Laura averted her gaze and blushed. 

“You attacked me first” 

“Well, I woke up tied up and naked. How did you want me to react?”

Laura covered her with a blanket and made her sit on the bed. The girl seemed recovered, obviously she hasn´t recovered her full strength or Laura would be fighting a panther instead of talking with her.

“I am sorry. I couldn´t take any risks. My name is Laura and I found you last night. I brought you here and dressed your wound. What is your name?”

The girl studied her and then did something that surprised Laura. She sniffed the air, closing her eyes.

“You are a huntress” She tensed up showing her teeth and looking straight at her with golden eyes “What do you want?” 

Laura tried to look calm but she prepared for a possible attack. 

“You came to my territory. You knew where you were. Tell me your name”

“Carmilla” She almost whispered staring at her intensely.

The huntress observed her now. She was definitely very pretty and her voice was deep and alluring. She tried to remember if she had seen her before, but Laura knew she wouldn´t forget her face. There was an air of mystery and confident around her. Focused on the mission Laura!

“Carmilla, what were you running away from?”

The shape-shifter just ignored her.

“Tell me cutie, are you gonna keep me naked? I know I am very easy to look at but it seems unnecessary” 

Carmilla sultry voice and smirk made Laura blush profusely and she forgot how to speak for a minute.

“You can borrow some clothes when you answered my questions” 

“I don´t know. Can you concentrate with me naked? You seem easily distracted” Carmilla then let the blanket covering her fall to the bed “Nakedness doesn´t bother me but you seem a little tense”

The shape-shifter was teasing her so she would let her guard down. Laura tried to look unaffected even though her heart was now racing.

“You know? The only thing that I have to do is inform my Captain and you will be on your way to your village in a few days, maybe hours” Carmilla wasn´t smiling anymore. 

“Why you haven´t done it yet?” 

That was a good question. One that Laura wasn´t sure how to respond. The only thing she knew is that she has been dreaming about a panther for weeks and then she found it/her in the woods. Carmilla asked for her help. For Laura this was meant to happen, they were meant to find each other, but she wasn´t sure why yet. It sounded crazy, but this is what the huntress felt. Then a thought crossed her mind.

“What do you know about the missing girls?” Laura used the plural on purpose.

Any other person that wasn´t a highly trained hunter wouldn´t have noticed the subtle change in Carmilla´s breathing or how her back straight up slightly at the mention of the missing girls. Laura smiled confidently. 

“You have two options: You tell me the true and I will help you to get away from your clan or I will hand you over to your clan so they can finish the job”

Carmilla flinched at the threat but her eyes were golden again and was looking at Laura with hatred. However, she was considering her offer. She finally sighed with resignation. 

“Ok then, buckle up creampuff, this is gonna be a long story”

**Author's Note:**

> I am working on the second chapter so I hope to update soon. Any comments and constructive criticism are really appreciated.


End file.
